4 Feb, 2010 @ 12:40
1 min read
1

Spain ski miracle

A LOST ski instructor was miraculously saved after he used his camera flash to guide the Sierra Nevada’s mountain rescue service to him.

After getting disoriented descending the Barranco San Juan valley the Spaniard soon became engulfed in heavy snow and minus 10 degree temperatures.

With hope fading fast, the Granada man, 23, was incredibly saved when rescuers spotted his camera flash reflecting out at night.

“When people face a life or death situation, they will resort to using or doing whatever it takes to help save them.”

The search had already been called off at 9pm, two hours before it was resumed on identifying the light.

“When people face a life or death situation, they will resort to using or doing whatever it takes to help save them,” said Santos Arias, mountain rescue officer.

“Temperatures were plummeting and there was a huge amount of snow, it was a miracle.”

Despite being a Sierra Nevada ski instructor, he was not familiar with this particular slope and lost his bearings.

He had been missing for three hours, before being plucked out of the mountain obscurity.

Arias added: “Before you ski look at a map of the ski slope and the various pistes to ensure you don’t get lost.”

“Also if you’re heading off alone, take a mobile phone and torch with you.”

Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)

Jon Clarke is a Londoner who worked at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as an investigative journalist before moving to Spain in 2003 where he helped set up the Olive Press.

After studying Geography at Manchester University he fell in love with Spain during a two-year stint teaching English in Madrid.

On returning to London, he studied journalism and landed his first job at the weekly Informer newspaper in Teddington, covering hundreds of stories in areas including Hounslow, Richmond and Harrow.

This led on to work at the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Standard and even the Sun, before he landed his first full time job at the Daily Mail.

After a year on the Newsdesk he worked as a Showbiz correspondent covering mostly music, including the rise of the Spice Girls, the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and interviewed many famous musicians such as Joe Strummer and Ray Manzarak, as well as Peter Gabriel and Bjorn from Abba on his own private island.

After a year as the News Editor at the UK’s largest-selling magazine Now, he returned to work as an investigative journalist in Features at the Mail on Sunday.

As well as tracking down Jimi Hendrix’ sole living heir in Sweden, while there he also helped lead the initial investigation into Prince Andrew’s seedy links to Jeffrey Epstein during three trips to America.

He had dozens of exclusive stories, while his travel writing took him to Jamaica, Brazil and Belarus.

He is the author of three books; Costa Killer, Dining Secrets of Andalucia and My Search for Madeleine.

Contact jon@theolivepress.es

1 Comment

  1. May it be suggested that if the mobile phone is GPS-integrated, well and good; otherwise a dedicated GPS handheld receiver can be invaluable for telling searchers where the user is – assuming the user knows how to use it. If skiing off-piste in remote locations, a Personal Locator Beacon can be if life-saver. They are not dependent on mobile phone coverage,
    Thank you.

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